Reid Anderson Quartet Dirty Sh

Franz Schubert composed fifteen string quartets during his short life: an astonishing diversity in this most exclusive chamber music combination from which only three popular works are usually heard in the concert hall. With Schubert’s Quartet in D minor “Death and the Maiden“, the Mandelring Quartet have recorded one of the most significant string quartets since Beethoven. It is a dramatically turbulent work, with variations on Schubert’s own song “Death and the Maiden“ as the intimate heart of the work.

Bohemian-German composer Jan Ladislav Dussek, 10 years older than Beethoven and a major influence upon him in the realm of keyboard music, is known mostly for that keyboard music and for his chamber music with keyboard. This set of three string quartets from late in his career has apparently never been recorded before. Dussek confidently asserted to an English publisher that "they are neither in the Stile of Mozart, of Haydn, nor that of Pleyel, they are in the Stile of Dussek, and I hope will make some noise in the Musical World."

Remembered in the west almost solely for his Soviet-era ballet The Red Poppy – and even then, for one popular selection from it, the energetic "Dance of the Russian Sailors" – Reinhold Glière is long overdue for a revival. If this 2006 recording by the Pulzus String Quartet of two of Glière's four string quartets gives any indication of his music's potential appeal, then it's high time that this neglected oeuvre is reassessed, both by ensembles in search of new repertoire and labels in need of fresh material.

These performances of Szymanowski's String Quartets and Webern's Langsamer Satz by Carmina Qt are hard to describe with words. The ensemble captures varying shade and light of Szymanowski's magical soundscape by vivid imagination and formidable technical refinement. There is a wondefully crafted performance of Langsamer Satz by Leipziger Qt (MDG), but this one surpasses it by the sheer beauty of tonal blend and the emotional depth and intensity. It doesn't surprise me that this disc received 1992 Gramophone Award in chamber music category and was nominated for Grammy award.

As one goes along in their classical-music journey, you eventually start moving beyond the "safeness" of the major composers and exploring the lesser-known "minor" composers - and often discovering soon enough some of the "hidden treasures" of the classical repertoire. And among some of these treasures are the clarinet concertos and the featured quartets on this CD by the Finnish-born virtuoso/composer, Bernhard Crusell.

This disc was an instant classic from the time it was issued in 1988, the Purcell Quartet's C.P.E. Bach: La Folia and other works. The disc features four chamber pieces and one harpsichord solo that, taken together, span all but the first and last decades of his output and contains some of the most pioneering and experimental-sounding music Bach created. The Trio Sonata in C minor "Sanguineus and Melancholicus" (1749) pits the Greek notions of the sanguine and melancholy against one another in a twisted musical dialogue, foreshadowing psychological form, a development that didn't take hold until the advent of Beethoven. Bach's late 12 Variations on La Folia (1776) are blustery and brilliant and played with a sense of urgency by the Purcell Quartet's leader, harpsichordist Robert Woolley.

This previously unreleased recording features the legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon with his quartet, George Cables (piano), Rufus Reid (bass) and Eddie Gladden (drums), captured live at the Chateauvallon Jazz Festival in 1978. The 180gm virgin vinyl pressing features extended versions of 'Tangerine' and 'More Than You Know' and is packaged in a gatefold sleeve with liner notes by famed jazz producer Michael Cuscuna, Penguin Guide to Jazz's Brian Morton and Gordon's widow, Maxine. "The original quartet was at its peak from its first notes to its last gig, as this concert bears out. Dexter is in a joyous and fiery mood, peppering his solos with outrageous quotes from other songs and stretching out. Few recordings by this amazing foursome have surfaced. This concert is a worthy addition to their discography."

Ernestine Anderson has been not only one of the greatest all-time jazz and blues singers, but has also displayed remarkable consistency. Her straight-laced, no-nonsense, soulful vocal control has graced many a standard or laid-back bluesy tune, each one of which she makes all her own. This collection is no different in terms of her refined quality in rendering well-known tunes, but there are some true signature statements included here that have to keep her high on anyone's list of favorite American born and bred vocalists. Producer, arranger, and guitarist Rodney Jones is a treat to hear on this date, dipping deep into the wellspring of his blues background in a way his progressive recordings only hint at. Pianist Lafayette Harris is one of those unsung heroes who plays so much in the pocket, he's easy to take for granted, yet never upstages anyone…

Although the six string quartets Opus 3 by Manuel Canales Braulio (1747-1786) experienced their first publication in London, the composer is not listed in the New Grove (1980). The more important are the notes by the first violinist of the Munich Cambini Quartet in the booklet. Canales worked primarily at the Cathedral of Toledo and at the court of the Duke of Alba in Madrid. His quartets are influenced by Haydn and Boccherini, but also have a certain Spanish flair.